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Articles 1 - 6 of 6
Full-Text Articles in Metaphysics
Theories Of Time And Free Will, Sarah Otto
Theories Of Time And Free Will, Sarah Otto
Honors Theses
This paper examines the intersection of the philosophy of time and the philosophy of free will, asking whether theories of time, such as the B-Theory or presentism, have an impact on free will beyond what they suggest about the truth or falsity of determinism. It first discusses common connections made between free will and time in past literature and dismisses determinism as a connection. The paper proceeds to provide three conditions for free will: the existence of a self, the ability of that self to inform decisions, and the ability of that decision to adequately participate in the causal chain. …
Speech Acts As Contingent Encounters: Realizing Agency In Contaminated Worlds, Zachary Cross
Speech Acts As Contingent Encounters: Realizing Agency In Contaminated Worlds, Zachary Cross
Honors Theses
Agency is realized in the act of speaking, an act which is always contingent on a collaborative process that transforms all parties involved. We think and act with one another and our concepts, there is no act of speech prior to encounter. In this paper I explore different ways which language shapes our thinking and play with those structures to use them as models for realizing agency. This exploration became personal insofar as exploring ways of thinking transformed my own sense of agency in the speech act. The completion of this paper is thus essential to its conclusion.
A Leap Into Communion: Kierkegaard And Spiritual Practices In _To The Wonder_, Madeleine Hall
A Leap Into Communion: Kierkegaard And Spiritual Practices In _To The Wonder_, Madeleine Hall
Honors Theses
The study of metaethics contains the question of where value comes from. Different theories of goodness encourage tracing goodness back to God, saying that goodness is that which is like God (the resemblance thesis) or that which perfects nature (the perfection thesis). Kierkegaard participates in these questions of goodness, and in Fear and Trembling concludes that the moral absolute of the akedah reveals a good, Divine mystery. Fear and Trembling is a work of Christian existentialism that encourages an internal faith that embraces mystery rather than attempting to conquer it. Rather than trying to understand exactly who God is, Kierkegaard …
The Tetralemma Of Nothingness, Samuel O. Sessions
The Tetralemma Of Nothingness, Samuel O. Sessions
Honors Theses
Grammatically, the question is rather simple. It is when we set out to answer the question that it suddenly becomes complex. What is nothing? Its very asking seems almost impossible because the ‘is’ within it brushes up against its meaning, producing paradox. How do we even begin to get at a something that is not a something? Immediately, you remark how similar this task is to a child chasing fairies in the forest or hunting for ghosts in the attic. Will we be doomed from the outset? If so, then what is the point? Our many predecessors have had varying …
On The Question Of Thinking: A Study Of Heidegger's Later Philosophy, Shishir Budha
On The Question Of Thinking: A Study Of Heidegger's Later Philosophy, Shishir Budha
Honors Theses
This thesis explores the writings of the 20th-century German philosopher Martin Heidegger to understand what “thinking” is and how thinking needs to be undertaken. I examine Heidegger’s commitments to phenomenology in his early writings, his revaluation of the meaning of truth in traditional Western metaphysics, his criticism of calculative thinking and scientific rationality, his diagnosis of the human alienation and homelessness, and his evocation of the redemptive power of art and poetry through which we can find our place in the world. By questioning through all these themes, I attempt to trace Heidegger’s path towards a deeper and more original …
Personal Identity, Psychological Continuity, And Survival, James D. Martin, Dennis Earl
Personal Identity, Psychological Continuity, And Survival, James D. Martin, Dennis Earl
Honors Theses
In this paper, I consider the question of personal identity, namely: in virtue of what is one person the same person at two different points in time? I first raise objections to theories which argue it is in virtue of physical continuity or continuity soul, then argue that an account of psychological continuity is most successful. One might object to psychological continuity on the grounds of reduplication and fusion problems. I argue that strict numerical identity is a bar set too high and rather that survival (construed as the continuation of a first-person perspective) is what matters for personal identity. …